Business & Operations Intern
Job Description
About Valency
Valency Systems is a small, dynamic team of engineers, scientists, and researchers building the global hub for the agentic research era.
We're based in Berkeley, California, and we're building something that matters. If you care about open science, advancing research at the speed of thought, and using AI to accelerate discovery, we'd love to talk.
As an intern, you'll be fully in-office 5 days a week over the summer — a great way to immerse yourself in the team and get the most out of your experience.
The Position
We're hiring an intern to work on interesting real-world product, marketing, business, strategic, legal, IP and policy challenges.
What you'll do
Finance & Operations: Financial modeling, fundraising support, budget planning, and operational scaling as we grow from a small team to a full organization
Business Development & Strategy (MBA): Market analysis, partnership development, go-to-market planning, and help shape our commercialization strategy for research institutions and enterprises
Product/Research Ops: Work with the PM/Director on research workflows, user discovery, and roadmap prioritization
What every intern gets
You'll work alongside founders and senior team members — not in a silo. Ship real work that matters. Learn building a dynamic company to support open science and agentic research. Experience startup culture with weekly learning sessions and cross-team exposure. You'll interact with interesting academics and researchers from across many disciplines.
You might be a fit if
You want to be at the ground floor of an AI startup with a scientific mission. You're a strong communicator and self-starter who thrives in ambiguity. You're curious about how research actually works and excited about making it better. You're comfortable using AI tools in your own workflow.
Preferred: Experience in or exposure to academia, research institutions, science policy, deeptech, or open source ecosystems.
Details
Duration: 10–12 weeks (Summer 2026), flexible
This is a summer internship, but we're building a team — strong employees may continue into the fall or convert to a full-time role.
Location: Berkeley (on-site, in office)
Compensation: Competitive hourly rate, commensurate with experience and track
Work Authorization: Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States.